Five Questions about Avatar: The Legend of Korra

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By now, anyone who doubted the excellence of the next Avatar series has either changed their mind or been forced off the planet by the rest of the population. In a word, Avatar: The Legend of Korra is fantastic. Deeper political struggles, stunning visuals, and the quirkiness that made Airbender so endearing have all brought great momentum to this new adventure. But with only four episodes under our belt, there we have more questions than answers. Here are five of them, hopefully to be clarified this weekend:

5) Who the $*%&^ is Amon?

Yes, we get that he’s anti-bending, and that his past is riddled with conflict from long gone benders. But, besides being scary, there is a whole lot more we don’t know about this character. Episode four showed us that Amon has plans he hasn’t yet fully divulged. He could have ended Korra’s saga, but chose not to, rationalizing that he didn’t want to make her a martyr. Makes sense, but could it go beyond his own self-preservation? We’re getting mixed signals from this guy, and it suggests that there’s a relationship between the Avatar and the Equalist deeper than what the writers explicitly show.

4) Is there going to be a love quadrangle?

Oh snap. Korra has competition, and it comes in the form of Asami Sato, a socialite who can stop your heart with her looks, or by running you over with her moped. We were all rooting for Katar, and so it’s right to feel a little sad. But maybe we should be happy, because for the first three episodes it seemed that the love plot wouldn’t match the depth we saw between Katara and Aang. Of course, we still haven’t received an answer to whether Korra actually likes Mako. It’ll be interesting to see how their relationship evolves with this new…ahem…prospect.

3) While we’re at it, what’s Asami’s deal?

Don’t be fooled by looks. In seemingly random fashion, a powerful and attractive female happens to run over a boy with direct access to the Avatar. The woman spends the entire episode wooing the guy–buying him clothes, dinner, and even funding his pro bending team. Is Asami just a really good sugar momma, or does she have ulterior motives? She gives me the willies, and I’m excited to see why.

2) Will Lin Beifong ever warm up to Korra?

Now that Korra has agreed to help Tarrlok in shutting down Equalists, it seems like she will have more opportunity to interact with Lin. And even though Toph’s daughter seems every bit as hard headed as our original favorite earth bender, it’s also clear that Lin Beifong is just trying to do right by Republic City. It seems like just a matter of time before the Avatar and Beifong family join forces again, and you can be sure that this time there will be even more arguing. Then again, since Korra is a water bender, maybe the transition from cold to warm will be a lot smoother than when we saw earth try to mix with air.

1) Are the flashbacks Korra’s ticket to Aang?

The best part of episode four didn’t involve any speaking. It was the series of flashbacks when we finally got to see adult Sokka, Toph, and Aang in some kind of conflict. We see adult Aang getting ready to fight (finally!), but it also seems like there’s a trial happening. What’s going on? And what is so bad about the conflict that it makes Sokka almost unrecognizable due to the grimace on his face? It’s interesting that so far, the creators have only made a passing reference to the spiritual realm, whereas in the last installment, they showed Aang’s spirituality from the get go. So perhaps the more important topic for discussion is what caused Korra to have those flashbacks, and could they play a role in revealing the spiritual side of our new Avatar?

One thing we know for sure: Every time we get answers to one of these questions, they will surely lead to more. Hopefully the great writers will drop us subtle hints in the next episode so we fans can quickly get to work formulating new theories and dissect every frame of this fantastic series. Happy bending!